


Long Nights, Bright Mornings

by mdr_24601



Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Finnick Odair-centric, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27548539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdr_24601/pseuds/mdr_24601
Summary: Response to the prompt: "Can I stay here tonight?" Requested by Anonymous on Tumblr.Finnick has a bad night and visits the one place that makes him feel better.
Relationships: Annie Cresta/Finnick Odair
Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2118231
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	Long Nights, Bright Mornings

Finnick was tired. 

He was tired, his tongue felt like cotton in his mouth, but his eyes  _ would not close. _

It was almost like he couldn’t rest. He had to be constantly moving, doing something or smiling when all he wanted was to melt into the floor. All week in the Capitol, he had wanted to stop, to pause, to rest. Just for a while. Just for a few minutes, until his heart stopped beating so erratically. 

Now that he was home, he couldn’t force his eyes to close. He felt jittery, like his skin wasn’t his own. Like maybe he could peel it off if he tried hard enough, because it wasn’t his. 

(He’d tried before. It didn’t work then, and it wouldn’t work now. He knew that, at least.)

His mind buzzed and he sighed again, rolling over in bed. Something wasn’t quite right. It was a feeling of paranoia creeping up his spine gradually. Reality was blurred around the edges until it was difficult to tell what's real anymore. 

Finnick peeled his sheet from his legs (he had abandoned the covers early on in the night; too stifling) and left the room. He didn’t stop until he was outside, letting the air fill his lungs. It was air from home, and it made all the difference. 

Then, he walked. 

He didn’t end up walking for very long. His legs just carried him somewhere and he didn’t bother to ask where they might be going. But as he stared at Annie’s front door, with his tousled hair and red-rimmed eyes, he couldn’t help but wonder what the hell he was doing. 

Before he could really stop himself, his hand reached out and knocked on the door. 

It would be too weird to walk away now, and he wasn’t even sure if Annie heard the knock. Most people slept in the middle of the night, he reminded himself. She was probably asleep in her bed right now, just as he wanted to be. 

She wasn’t. Asleep, that is. Moments after his knock, Annie’s door swung open with a heavy creak, and she stared back at him, her lips pulled into a concerned frown. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, I just…” his throat felt dry and scratchy. When was the last time he had water? “Can I stay here tonight?”

Annie’s expression melted into one of soft sympathy. “Of course. Here, come in.”

Finnick let her lead him inside, to the squishy couch in the living room. “Sorry for bothering you.”

“Oh, I wasn’t sleeping,” she replied, a twinge of bitterness in her voice. “It seems like I never sleep anymore.” Finnick nodded in agreement. 

“Same. Guess it never really goes away, does it?”

She shrugged in response. “I like to think everything is temporary. The bad things, at least. Makes it a little easier.” Annie brushed her curly hair away from her face and walked aimlessly into the kitchen. “Do you want any water or anything?”

“Sure.”

She returned with a cool glass of water and set in gently on the coffee table before settling on the couch beside him. The water slid down his throat easily, and Finnick sighed. Would it be dramatic to say it was the best water he’d ever tasted? 

“Thanks for this,” he said after a moment. “I know you probably have your own things to do.”

“Oh, I don’t have anything to do,” Annie grumbled. “Nothing at all. I can’t go to school, I don’t work. What about you? How do you spend your days?”

“I go to the beach,” he replied softly. That was about the extent of it, really. 

“Oh.” Her expression clouded over slightly, like something had splintered in her mind. Finnick was brought back to the Games just months ago, watching the monstrous flood devour the arena as it threatened to pull Annie under forever. “I used to go when I was a kid, but...not anymore.”

“Maybe I could take you,” he offered before he really thought about it. Annie’s eyes widened at the suggestion and he considered taking it back. 

“Okay,” she replied after a moment. “Yeah, it might be fun.”

Her smile was hesitant, but soft and sweet all the same. Finnick couldn’t help but give her a tired smile back. Annie pulled a blanket from off the back of the couch and draped it around their shoulders. “There. So we’re warm.”

“This is nice,” Finnick said, but what he meant was  _ you’re nice.  _ His eyelids fluttered and he let himself feel the flicker of hope that maybe he could finally get some rest.

“Just go to sleep,” Annie whispered into his ear. “It’s okay. Everything will be fine when you wake up.”

He let his eyes fall closed as his body grew accustomed to Annie’s comfortable warmth next to him. 

Finnick woke the next morning to sunlight streaming through the windows and Annie breathing steadily, curled up at his side. 


End file.
